foster



UNITED STATES PATENT EEICE.

RANDOLPH S. FOSTER, OF SING SING, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF, CORNELIUS WALSH, AND JOHN O. N OBLES.

IMPROVEMENT IN LOCKS.

Specitication forming part of Letters Patent No. 39,002. dated June 2 l, 1863.

To all wtum/ it 77u11/ concern.' v

Beit known that I, RANDOLPH S. Fos'rER, oi' Sing Sing, in the county of Vestchesterand State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bank, Vault, or Safe Locks; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this speciiication, in which- Figure 1 represents in perspective the cover of the lockl removed from the box thereof. Fig. 2 represents in perspective the box of the lock with the cover removed, and the bolt, plates,&c., removed also from its interior. Fig. 3 represents in perspective the operating parts of the lock removed from the box or case, and Fig. 4 represents a perspective View of the same from its opposite side, as shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 represents in perspective the key of the lock.

Similar letters of reference, where they occur in the drawings, represent like parts of the lock in all cases. j

My invention relates to that class of locks e in which the bits, plates, springs, Sto., which constitute the moving parts of a lock are attached to and carried by the bolt as itis moved in the lock-case; and my invention consists in the combination and arrangement of slides or bits with the bolt, and with a brace in the lock-case or elsewhere, so that the pins in the key entering from the door may retain a part of the slides or bits, the rest moving with the bolt and thus virtually elongating some of the bits or plates, and bracing the bolt with the others so that it cannot be forced back into the lock, as will be explained. l

The cover A of the lock may be a plain metal plate containing a knob, C, shank B, and lever-arm D for moving the bolt ofthe lock when it is released from the bits or plates so as to be susceptible of movement.

The case or box E of the lock may be cast in one piece, if so desired, and its whole interior may be filled by the bolt alone, thus making an extraordinarily small case for a very large bolt. The case, however, may be made of two or more pieces without changing the character of the invention. The cross-bar F should be removable for the purpose of taking out or placing in the bolt. There is a recess, G. in the bottom of the case for the pins that release the bits to shoot into when pressed by the key-pins, and there is an opening, H, in one end of the case for the bolt to shoot through. The bolt I may be cast in one piece,so that, comparatively, there will be but little work upon it, the pins, plates, and springs being ot' the most simple form and construction and easily attached thereto. The entire bolt and its ixtures, as, seen in Figs. 3 and 4, is moved when thelock is locked or unlocked. The slides, plates, or bits a c a may be of variable thick'- nesses, but all of the same form, and punched out of sheet steel or other metal, and having two holes in them through which pins c cmay pass. They are piled or corded u p, as shown in the drawings, giving great permutation power to the lock. The pins c care arranged in pairs upon a strip or saddle, e, on the under side of the bolt, of which strips there are a series corresponding with the series of pins and slides or bits, and these saddles and pins are held up in place by suitable springs, of which I have shown two kinds, f g, iiat and coiled. Of course any other spring will serve the purpose equally well. The stems around which the springs g are coiled are supported in a plate, h, to keep them in proper place, and cause the pins to move truly without being cramped.

is the pin to which the lever-arm'D is attached by its slot b for the purpose of moving the bolt by the knob C.

Though I describe two sets of pins, c c, as passing through each pile of slides or bits, I may use less or more than two, and I may increase or diminish the number ot' slides or bits, as I prefer, as I am not compelled to use every pile in locking or unlocking the bolt or lock. I can use the whole or less than the whole of the bits, as I please, and thus the combinations of the lock `can be very much increased, while its whole structure is of the simplest and cheapest kind.

J, Fig. 5, represents a key with four pins only, while the bolt carries eight piles of plates and corresponding pins. The key, instead of but four pins, .may have any number up to eight,or it may have any number less than four, it being immaterial what number of pins you use; but when four are used., and there are the combinations, and to such an extent that with the key it would be next to impossible, except by accident, to open the lock. The pins in the key are removable and transposa ble, again complicating the combinations, and by having` them of varying lengths and the bits of variable thicknesses another combination is made which would render the lock almost unpickable with its own key. Of course the bolt can only be released by the same combinations which fastened it, but by no other ones.

On the ends ofthe bits or slides a isa recess or half round, n, which, when the bolt is thrown out into the mortise or keeper, receives the pins c, their other ends resting against the brace F, attached to the lock case or box E, so that when the door is locked the bolt I cannot be forced back against the resistance of these bits, of which any number may be so placed, according to the number, position, and lengths of the pins used for the time being,in the key. The key J has a removable plate or cap, m, on it, which is held in place by a set screw or screws, k, and when it is desirable to change the pins Z of the key so as to alter their comv bination the cap may be loosened at one or both ends, so as to get at the pins, and they can be interchanged, or some of them entirely removed or replaced by others.

On the plate A there is a block, K, repre-y the door there is a plate or case, L, containing a series of pins, o, corresponding in number and position to the number and position of the pins c in or on the bolt, so that the pins c may be operated through those o by means of the key-pins from the outside of the door.

To operate the lock, the following is the manipulation and effect: Place the pins of the key in any of the holes against the pins o in the door K and press it in as far as it will go. This forces back the pins c c, which hold the piles of plates, and releases as many of the plates, slides, or bits as there are pins for the time being in the key, and as many of the plates, slides, or bits of each pile of bits as the respective lengths of the key-pins will reach.

Now, by turning the knob, handle, or lever' C the bolt can be movedout, the bits that are released resting against the brace F, while the others not released move, of course, with the bolt. When the bolt is moved out to its full extent, the key may be removed, and,releasing the pins c, which it previously held back, they are instantly shot back into their original positions by their springs and pass up into or through the recesses or half-rounds n of the plates resting against the brace F, so that to attempt to force back the bolt every bit so bracing it must be rst broken.

To unlock the door, the insertion of the key-pins into the same holes again will replace or release these bracing-bits,and the bolt can be turned back. The action of these'bitssome remaining stationary and others moving with the bolt, though all of the same lengthis similar to that of an elongation of the bits, and by this action the lock can be made very compact and small with great strength, and with powers of permutation almost incalculable.

lf desirable, an escutcheon may be used in connection with this lock, such as that for which I have made separate application for Letters Patent bearing even date with this application, and applied and used in substantially the same manner.

Having thus fully described the construction and operation of my lock, what I claim 1. The combination and arrangement of the piles of slides or bits with the bolt, and with a brace in or on the lock-case, for locking or unlocking the bolt, substantially as herein described and represented.

2. In combination with the pins that hold and release the slides or bits, and with the key-pins, the pins o in the door to which the lock is attached, sothat the lock can be conveniently attached to the door and the-bits made accessible from the outside, substantially as described.

R. S. FOSTER.

Witnesses:

A. B. SroUGHroN, J. C. NoBLEs. 

